Co-funded by

Wellbeing of Women-Royal College of Midwives Partnership Entry Level Scholarships (ELS) provide single candidates with up to £20,000 for up to 12 months, however we will consider requests for a longer duration with justification. Funds are for directly incurred research costs and may include a salary contribution. Applicants must be midwives and full members of the RCM. The research must be undertaken in the UK.

These awards will fund pre-doctoral midwives for research that seeks to improve the practice of midwifery and maternity services, including postnatal care, but applications will be considered for basic science, clinical and translational research that seeks to improve the health of women, girls and babies across any area of women’s reproductive and gynaecological health.

Awards are intended to provide ‘pump-priming’ funds to enable midwives to be exposed to a research environment and to obtain pilot data that will enhance an application for a research fellowship (PhD or MD). Applicants would normally be new to the research discipline and will not previously have been heavily involved in substantial or funded research projects.

An ELS is not intended as a ‘top-up’ for existing grants. Its primary purpose is to support a single individual at an early stage of their research career.

The RCM have recently published their top 10 research priorities for midwifery practice and maternity care, and encourage applications in those areas.

In line with RCM's Race Matters campaign and our intent to increase involvement and engagement from and support to midwives who identify as Black, Asian or an ethnic minority, we welcome applications from midwives from these communities and/or whose project aims to improve the health outcomes from people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities.

Applicants are encouraged to make use of the RCM research buddy scheme. The scheme has been created to support midwives who want to undertake a piece of research and is an informal source of advice and guidance for applicants when developing their research ideas and funding applications. As a rough guide, a Buddy will provide up to 3 hours of support.

2026 Call timeline

Call launch: Wednesday 22 April 2026

Submission deadline: Wednesday 22 July 2026 at 1pm

Application outcome: December 2026

Awards start: January/February 2027

How to apply

Download the ELS application forms and guidance below. Before applying, please read the grant guidance.

WoW Entry Level Scholarship Application Form 2026

WoW Entry Level Scholarship Guidance for Applicants 2026

WoW_Research Questions for Non-standard Animals

If you have any queries, please contact the Wellbeing of Women research team at [email protected] or call 020 3697 6346.